'Duck Dynasty' Star Wanted to Kill Himself Over Fame

Duck Dynasty is one of my favorite shows on TV, not just because it’s hysterical, or because it shares Christian and family values, but because I love that these self-described rednecks stay true to themselves despite the fame and fortune that’s come their way. Remember when they snuck into the country club to go frogging? Awesome.

Anyway, it’s apparently been tougher for some of them than others -- Reed Robertson, the teenage son of Jase and Missy, recently admitted that the pressure of being on the hit show got to him, and he even had suicidal thoughts.

A couple years ago, I started to get real cynical and looking at everything like ‘That’s wrong,’ or ‘They are looking at that wrong’ because I thought I had it all figured out,” he said. “I guess I got really caught up in thinking that I was better than everyone else because of who my family was.

Apparently he became so uppity that his friends and loved ones didn’t even want to hang out with him anymore. He said that he hit rock bottom after being snubbed by some friends at church.

No one wanted anything to do with a cynical person like me. I told my youth minister that I was, I pretty much told him that I wanted to kill myself.

He went so far as to write a suicide note, but talked to his parents instead of going through with it. He said that his mom’s tears and his dad’s tough common sense admonishment changed his heart.

My mom was devastated of course. She’s crying and all this kinda stuff. She’s thinking where she went wrong and it wasn’t her at all. My dad told me that is the most selfish thing that you can do … Leave this world because you can’t take it. And I really believe that that’s true.

Reed says he’s now “back on track with Jesus.”

I just thought about, like, I’m about to leave all these people that I could have a really huge impact with. I was finally free of doubts, of having an attitude of being cynical, and I remember being so relieved. And Jesus brings that relief. I think who taught me that was the men in my life and my family.

Wow. It’s not often you find a kid with a good enough head on his shoulders to realize he’s going down the wrong path, take the steps to right himself, and then admit his mistakes.